My Remains
by Silent Midnight Shadow
Summary: Set immediately after DOTM, Alice Donovan finds herself looking at what's left of Chicago. With her past coming to haunt her and the shocking re-introduction of the All-Spark to the Autobots, how will she cope with what's to come? OC/Mirage(Dino) *Summary sucks. Rated M just to be safe cause of swearing and stuff I haven't thought of yet.
1. The Red Twilight

The dark red-haired woman stood on a massive pile of concrete and debris watching with her bright green eyes, the sun set over what was left of Chicago, the smoke rising above the city casted eerie glows of reds, purples, and oranges across the sky. Her long hair was up in a pony-tail, it swayed gently in the wind. The Cybertronian quadruped, whose appearance closely resembled a larger Doberman pinscher, was standing next to her watching as well. His luminescent blue eyes glowing in the approaching darkness, as he waited patiently. His shoulders reached her 5 foot 3 inch frame as she leaned her head on them. A large, black, mechanical raven rested on her creators shoulder as she too watched the sun finish its course.

The sun's last glimmer of light faded away and Alice turned to her companion. "Ready boy?" she asked with a small smile. Fireblade simply jumped off the mound of debris and transformed into a black 2013 Honda Fireblade CBR 1000RR motorcycle, (hence his name) landing on his two tires. His body was composed of at least two separate motorcycles that transformed into just one. Because of this it made him quite large for a motorcycle. The fairly large, mechanical raven, Nightshade, came off of her perch on Alice's shoulders and attached herself to her frame, covering her body with a flexible suit of black 'armor' and helmet over her baggy pants and sweatshirt. While standing, she slid off of the pile of concrete, hopping onto Fireblade they took off to what was left of Chicago.

Alice stopped Fireblade when they came to an open, off-ramp they exited the interstate. He and Nightshade silently transformed and followed Alice closely. Using darkness as their cover, they made their way along the river hoping to find a bridge that was down. Finding no such luck when they came upon guards that stationed themselves at the entrance to a downed bridge, she decided they would have to jump across. Peering around a corner she found the Autobots and what was left of the soldiers that had fought camped on a bit away from the bridge on the opposite side. The 4 soldiers that were on her side of the bridge would be preventing anyone from going into the city.

She could easily pick out the Autobots that stood high above the humans. Optimus was sitting on a pile of debris while Ratchet was busy trying to re-attach his arm. Only a few others remained in the camp as well as a few soldiers and doctors who were treating the wounded. The rest she assumed were out looking for survivors. Looking down the road a bit she saw a building that had partly collapsed, half of it hung by the river and the rest had fallen into the river itself. Backing away, she made her way to the other side of the street where she climbed what was left of the building. With Fireblade and Nightshade in tow Alice made her way through the twisted metal and broken glass to the edge of the building. She could easily see the makeshift camp from the view she was at to her right.

Tents, generators, towering lights, and various other things composed of the camp. There were soldiers scattered everywhere, some in groups others alone, but most of them were sleeping. There as a soft echo that rose above them camp, and reverberated off of the once tall skyline of the city. She could easily see Optimus and Ratchet hard at work putting his commander together along with Sideswipe and Bumblebee who stayed behind as well.

Fireblade assessed the situation, "You will need a 'lift' to get a cross. " He replied in a deep but quiet voice. She smiled a bit at his comment about needing a lift to get across, knowing full well he could not understand why humans used words that could mean several things. "So it would seem." She said in a soft whisper. Having knelt for her, Alice climbed the Doberman look-alike. He walked back to the other end of the floor that they were on, hunched down a bit and took off in a dead sprint. The edge of the remains of the building came into view, and he pushed off the edge. A light metallic groan came from the building but was gone instantly as the night swallowed it up.

* * *

**I know it was a little boring, but it gets better.**

**Please let me know what you think! (No flames please.)**


	2. Almost Red Handed

"Hey did you hear that?" a light-skinned solider on the ground questioned his comrades. "Hear what?" A dark-skinned one replied. "I don't know, sounded like moving metal." He had looked up from what he was doing searching for the source of the noise. "Dude, it was probably a building settling or somethin'." The black toned man said waving a hand at his lighter skin toned comrade. Although skeptical of his friend's answer he went back to what he was doing.

Optimus and the other three heard the metal moving as well, whether they believed the soldiers words or not was another story. Both Sideswipe and Bumblebee didn't pick up anything on their scanners; they looked at each other and hesitantly looked toward their leader. "Hey, Optimus, you want us to go check it out?" Sideswipe asked over a private intercom link. He shook his head at the youngling's question. "Although I do not know the cause of the noise, I do not think it is anything we need investigate at this time." Sideswipe turned to Bumblebee and shook his head, understanding he nodded.

* * *

Alice groaned quietly in frustration, she had thought that finding Wheeljack, Brains, and Wheelie would have been easier than this. She could see their locations in her head but none of the landmarks were adding up. Sighing she closed her eyes and concentrated on the 'feeling' that radiated from their bodies. Her body seemed to rush forward and twist and turn through street corners, over piles of rubble to find Brains and Wheelie. Alice paused there for a second taking in the sights of exactly where they were before letting her mind take off again, however Que was further away.

Alice, followed by Fireblade and Nightshade, jumped down to the Decepticon ship that had crashed in the river with Wheelie and Brains. Nightshade landed gracefully on the outside of the ship and kept watch while Fireblade accompanied her in finding the two small Autobots. Upon entering the inside of the dark, deserted tin can, dead Decepticon skeletons were scattered across the floor. Their footsteps echoed loudly throughout the large space as they made their way through the ship.

"Hey! Is somebody out there!? Can anybody hear me?!" a small muffled voice pleaded. Fireblade, having pinpointed the sound leaped over to a large metal panel and began to lift it. The two Autobots bolted out of the confined space they were in. "Boy, are we glad to see you guys!" the small child's toy said in a Brooklyn accent. "I thought we were going to be in there forever!" Brains agreed. "Wait, now who are you guys?" Wheelie asked.

Alice smiled and knelt to their level. "A friend, there's no reason to worry." Wheelie didn't believe a single work, "Uh-huh, how do to we know you're not some human working for the Decepticons?" he shot back in response. Alice sighed quietly to herself. "Really, you think a human working for the Decpticons would come looking for you and save you?" Wheelie looked thoughtful for a moment then replied, "Good point. Hey wait! Where are you going?" he yelled as Alice and Fireblade were walking out of the ship. She kept walking and called over her shoulder, "I have to find Que."

Nightshade heard the red- haired girl coming out of the ship and silently took off from her viewpoint and landed on her shoulder. The girl smiled and whispered to her, "Anything going on?" the black raven like creature shook her head 'no'. "Hey wait up! Don't leave us in here." Alice stopped and waited for the pair to catch up. Sighing aloud she asked Fireblade to give them a ride.

Once out of the river the five of them made their way over to the camp however, they stayed far away from view. "This is where I leave you." She put simply as she helped Wheelie and Brains on to the ground. "What do you mean?" Brains questioned. Alice smiled at them and answered, "Don't worry you'll see me again soon." With that she walked towards where her mind called to her.

* * *

Upon reaching the spot of where Que's remains were, Alice cursed out loud. From the point that she was standing at she could clearly see and make out the temporary camp as well as the Autobots that stood by pacing. She would have to make this quick.

Already next to Que's body, she closed her eyes and shoved as much energy as she could into putting his body back together. Parts came flying from different directions and reasmebled themselves, completing his once destroyed frame. Without pausing she quickly climbed on top of his body and searched the Autobot's spark in her mind. Adrenaline raced through her system as she could hear the engines of Bumblebee, Sideswipe and another Autobot closing in on her. She knew they could feel her presence as she surged energy through her hands. Finding his spark didn't take too long since he had only recently perished however, her hands were shaking as she placed the spark back where it belonged.

She managed to jump off of his body just in time as the three Autobots hurled around the corner and Wheeljack sat up. "Oh my, I can't believe it! I'm back, I'm really back!" he chuckled somewhat, placing a hand on his head and then looking at the rest of himself, "And as good as new! Unbelievable!"

Bumblebee, Sideswipe and Mirage stared at Que for some time before speaking. "Um, sir you're not going to believe this…" Sideswipe said as his voice trailed off.

Alice on the other hand was trying to escape before somebody saw her, as she took cover in a nearby totaled SUV. She continued to watch from her new hiding spot the scene in front of her take place. Fideblade and Nightshade had also followed closely behind her and took over in the same place. Nightshade perched herself comfortably on Fideblade's back as he sat down next to Alice.

"It's Que… he's alive." Sidewipe almost stuttered. Que stood up as Bumblebee and the rest of them walked over to him. "Bumblebee, it's good to see you again." Soon after that they communicated in a low Cybertronian voice. Alice could only pick out a few words but couldn't make any sense of them. Soon, she heard the heavy footsteps of two large Autobots approaching.

Optimus and Ratchet came into view and stood there almost stunned. "Optimus! Ratchet! It's good to see you lads." Wheeljack responded in Cybertronian. "And I you, Wheeljack." Optimus replied, "But, tell me how are you alive?" he asked. "I don't know myself, the only thing I really remember was dying and then waking up here. Oh wait! There was this girl…."

Mirage stood by idling while the conversation of the group kept going. Movement out of the corner of his optics and the shuffling noises that came with them made him curious. They happened several time over the course of the conversation between the two mechs.

Walking closer to the upside down SUV a hushed femme voice spoke up. "Shit, shit, shit!" The sound of metal transforming and an engine starting up soon filled the air. It echoed loudly off of the silent city streets, causing the rest of the group to glance over in Mirage's direction. He was about to lift up the overturned SUV when suddenly a the engine revved up loudly and suddenly a motorcycle jumped over the SUV, glided up Mirage's arm and jumped off of his shoulder. Not excepting it he stood stund for a second.

Something like the human emotion of shock ran through each of their bodies, and quickly without thinking Ratchet made a quick scan of the motorcycle. The readings came back almost instantly and he was almost overwhelmed with the about of data that came back.

At that moment the motorcycle made a sharp right turn and sped off. Sideswipe was quick for he had already transformed and was racing down the street after it. He had seen the debris pile in front of them at the end of the road, speeding up he hoped to catch the cycle. However, the motorcycle sped up even faster. Seeing the large pile of concrete that was suddenly in front of him, he slammed on his breaks and transformed to his bipedal mode to stop himself. Just as he stopped he looked up to see the cycle had used several pieces of concrete to jump up and over the large pile.

Sideswipe stood there stunned but turned around and walked back to Optiums. Joining up with the group again, Optimus spoke, "Sideswipe and Bumblebee I want you two, to go after this female, but do not engage in combat. It seems as though she might be the missing piece to what happened here." "What, you mean that that rider was a femme?!" Sideswipe questioned. Optimus nodded, "So it would seem, Ratchet managed to complete a quick scan of the cycle and its rider." Ratchet nodded and continued, "The rider is definitely human, however the motorcycle and what appeared to be riding gear were Cybertroian, who seem to be in pristine condition. The same cannot be said about the female. She's experiencing extreme fatigue is running on adrenaline now." There were other more pressing matters about this female human that he was concerned about, however he kept them to himself.

A young male's voice interrupted his train of thought. "Optimus!" The group looked down to see Colonel Lennox and a small group of soldiers appear from around a corner. "Colonel, any luck finding more survivors?" he asked. The Colonel nodded, "A few, but I was informed about a high energon spike in this area, do you know anything about that?" The Autobot nodded as well, "Yes, it seems that Que here has been revived, but how, we do not know yet. However, there was a female that may have an answer to all of our questions. I was just informing Bumblebee and Sideswipe here, and have asked that they follow the young female." With that Bumblebee and Sideswipe transformed and took off.

Colonel Lennox seemed thoughtful, "Interesting, will you keep me updated if you hear anything?" The Autobot agree, but was interrupted from anything further, "I'm sorry to interrupt Colonel, but I need to get back to reattaching Opitums' arm. If you'll excuse us." Lennex nodded, "I'll leave you to it."

"Oh, and Colonel, you might want to think about calling the search parties off for the night, it's been quiet a day for these soldiers." Agreeing completely with the medic, it wasn't long before all the soldiers were back at their makeshift base, sleeping.

* * *

Out on the open highway leading out of Chicago, Bumblebee and Sideswipe were after the dim, disappearing tail lights of the black motorcycle. Both were glad to be to be away from the death and chaos that they had been through only hours before.

The yellow mech had a lot occupying his processer. One of his close friends who had been recently killed was revived, he felt a huge weight that had been lifted the moment his optics saw him. He remembered the moment when the Decepticon off-lined the scientist. He couldn't think of that now though, Que was back and everything else could be put behind him.

Alice could feel the two Autobots gaining on her however, she wanted them to keep their distance but continue to follow her. A sudden was of fatigue washed over her causing her weight to shift on the bike slightly. It began to tilt, but Fireblade straightened back up.

"_I'm sorry, I just suddenly got tired."_ She communicated to him through a mental bond-link. _"It's alright, try to get some sleep. I can handle this."_ He replied. _"Are you sure, cause I can if you need me too."_ She questioned. _"I'm fine, sleep, you need it."_ Was all he said after that.

With that Alice reached for Nightshade's link. _"Hey is it alright if I try to get some sleep?" _she asked her protector. _"Yes, it feels like you need it."_ She said with a slight chuckle. "Thanks." She said aloud to both of them. Relaxing her muscles, Nightshade kept her form of stiff, rigidness to stay upright and in place on Fireblade.


	3. Red Tail Lights and Upgrades

Ratchet sighed heavily as he worked on his commander's shredded limb once they had gotten back to the temporary base. On their way back, they had found the two missing Autobots. Wheelie and Brains had somehow managed to find the base. They had lost the two when the Autobots split up after Shockwave made himself know. Soon after that their signal was lost, even after the Decepticons were defeated the Autobots looked for the two but couldn't find them. Of course, since they had not been in the main fight they didn't know that Que had been off-lined. So, when Wheelie and Brains met up with Ratchet, Optimus, Mirage and Que they were surprised to hear 'revive' come up in the conversation, he let Que explain what happened at that point.

Optimus who was deep in thought about the latest development, heard the medics frustration. "What seems to be the matter, Ratchet?" He asked over a private com link. "Just bothered by the information my scans picked up on the female, as well as with Wheeljack." The medic hesitated for a second before Optimus encouraged him to continue.

"Wheeljack is in better condition than all of us. His energon levels are at full capacity, as well as his reserves. His frame is perfect every bolt in its right spot and as good as new. His spark is even better then it was before, it's like he's brand new.

"The female on the other hand is a completely different story. From the scan I was able to gather, some rather interesting findings. Her whole body has energon flowing through it. It's as though she made from it. The other is that she's still human, well at least from what my scans have showed me. Unfortunately there are other, more concerning problems about the female though…" Ratchet mumbled. Optimus was still a bit curious and let Ratchet continue once again.

"Well, without further, more complete scans I can't be sure about some things. For one she's malnourished. She also seems to have a fast heart rate, which might be caused by the abnormal about of adrenaline I found in her system. Who knows what kind of effects this will…" Ratchet rambled on and on. Opitums however, had stopped listening and was more worried about the powers and capabilities this girl possessed. It she indeed, only assuming however, brought Wheeljack back to life than what else was she able to do?

Mirage was still somewhat stunned at what happened, but he never showed any of it through his actions or otherwise. He had listened to what Ratchet had so say about the femme but processed it with little care. He was however, a little pissed at the fact he had a motorcycle ride up his arm, probably scratched his armor somewhere. Without a sound he moved to the edge of the of the group and transformed into his alt-mode for a deep recharge.

* * *

Alice awoke startled; she had forgotten she fell asleep on Fireblade. The quick motion she had made cause him to jerk to the left a bit, a horn blared making her jump out of her skin even more. Alice whipped her head around and held her hand up in apology.

"_Sorry, you ok 'Blade?"_ she questioned seriously. _"Yeah, wasn't expecting you to wake up so soon. You've only been out for about three hours."_ He stated.

"_Where are we?"_

"_Outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania." _

"_What! Already how fast have been going?"_

"_Averaging about 140."_

"_Oh, ok I thought you'd be going faster."_ Alice giggled a bit.

"_Well, you want them to keep up right?"_ He was implying the two Autobots behind them.

"_Yeah, I suppose so, anyway when we get into the city we're going stealth, I just wanted them to follow us this far."_ Alice didn't know the extent of Ironhide's condition, all she knew was that it was painful and violent. She frowned remembering that Sentential had been the one that killed him. Shaking her head she tried to push the thought away, it didn't matter he would be alive once again soon enough.

"Hey, Nightshade how are you holding up?" Alice asked through their link. "Fine, a little stiff but good." "Why don't we stop for a few minutes and you can rejoin Fireblade?" "Are you sure? I don't need to." "I know but the I think it would only be fair." She was silent for a few seconds and Fireblade veered off to an off-ramp exit.

The interesting thing about Fireblade and Nightshade was that although they were two separate beings and formed from two separate mechanical objects they shared Fireblade's frame. In other they could join with each other and become one entity. She concluded that the reason they could combine was because they were created at the same time.

Pulling over on a deserted road, Alice slid off of her companion and Nightshade unfolded off of her. Lifting up the seat she grabbed the set of leather gear and the helmet. Alice couldn't explain why Nightshade always preferred that she use her instead of the leather gear. But the mechanical bird had said that if something happened it would be easier if she were in that form, or something like that.

Taking the dark sweatshirt off, she placed it in the compartment and dressed in the black leather. Putting on the helmet they headed back on the highway. Looking behind her she realized that the two Autobots were right behind her. She lifted up her visor and smiled then winked and took off doing a wheelie. She had to keep them interested somehow.

* * *

The instant the two Autobots entered D.C. they lost the female. After the stunt she pulled on the highway although confused, followed a bit more closely. She was passing in front of a car and when they made their way around it she was gone, she didn't even have a signature to follow.

The sun still wasn't up yet by the time the two meches made it there, driving at 140 mph defiantly had its advantages. They had made it from Chicago to D.C. in just over five hours. Sideswipe and Bumblebee transformed and proceeded to contact Optimus.

"Opitums, we've lost visual of the femme." Sideswipe started.

"Where are you now?" he questioned.

"D.C., it appears she wanted us to follow her." Bumblebee said simply.

"Hmm, interesting. Keep an eye out for her, we'll be moving out of Chicago at dawn but in the meantime get some rest you two. You deserve it."

Not wanting to go back to what was left of the NEST base, they decided to go to the only other place they could think of, Sam and Carly's place. Turning around the corner they soon saw Sam's parents' motorhome parked up against the building. The two Autobots didn't need to be seen and parked on the opposite end of the block. Turning off their engines they almost instantly fell into a deep re-charge state.

* * *

Alice rode towards the southern point of the DC area, where she lived. She stopped outside a fairly large warehouse type of a building, and got off of Fireblade. While transforming Alice produced a silver key from her pocket, and unlocked the human sized door that sat at the corner of the building next to the large industrial sized garage door. Since there were no windows on the sides for the building, she opened the door and turned on the florescent lights that hung from the ceiling.

Light flooded the square, abandoned, metal room that was at least two football fields in length. After Fireblade came in she shut the door and proceed to walk past her friends silently so she didn't wake them. All of them were in a re-charge state and she made it about half way before someone's lights flickered on. Before she knew it all five of them were awake. The triplets transformed into their bipedal form the quickest while the other two seemingly took their time.

"Alice, you're back so soon?" She nodded and turned to the pink warrior.

"Yeah, Fireblade over there was averaging at least 140." Acree turned and glared at the quariped, but he merely turned around and walked away from Alice. Chromia and Elita simply laughed a bit at their sister's reaction. She acted like a mother to her in more ways than one the other two seemed like sisters.

The three had changed their appearances since the first time she met them, although they still kept their colors. Acree was a pink Ducati 1199 Panigale. Chomia changed to a blue, Hayabusa GSX 1300 RR. And Elita was a purple, BMW S1000 RR. However the femme's weren't the only ones to shed their old form for a new one, Jazz did as well. From a silver, Pontiac Solstice, to a white whit black racing stripes, 2013 Dodge Viper.

A question from the white mech distracted her from the trio. "Is it true about Ironhide?"She nodded her head, "I'm afraid so Jazz…" he nodded his head. "Awh, don't worry about it shorty, he wouldn't want us moping around anyways…" Alice agreed but saw Chromia's shoulders slump out of the corner of her eye. She instantly felt bad for the femme as her sisters comforted her. (_**I know Jazz talks like a gangster but I don't know how to write like one, so just imagine he is.)**_

"You should get some sleep, you seem tired." Jolt replied. Alice rolled her eyes at the light blue C-X75 Jaguar. "Yeah I know, I know. I'm sorry for waking you guys up by the way." She apologized.

"Ah, don't worry about it, shorty." Jazz replied. "And who said anything about sleep anyway." Jolt said smiling widely. "Well, we are." Acree stated. Alice smiled at their responses and walked over to the ladder that went up to her loft sort of living space. She bid everyone a good 'morning' and was off to the shower.

Out of the shower that had taken her longer then she thought it would, Alice saw Fireblade in a semi-recharge state on her side of the bed. "Alright you big goof…" He got up and moved, and waited for her to get comfortable and flopped down gently next to her. Sleep instantly took her over and she heard Fireblade's systems turn off to re-charge.

* * *

**Please let me know if anything is out of place with one or more of the characters, I'll fix it and adjust to their right personalities. Give me suggestions about their personality as well if you think it doesn't fit. Sorry if their are a lot of pov changes as well. I will try and update as frequently as possible but exams are coming up and projects are do. As usual please comment, thanks! :)  
**


	4. Red in the Face

When she awoke, Alice immediately saw 'blade up and gazing at the door as though he were picking up talking. He said nothing though. It was the first time in awhile that she had slept peacefully.

"What time is it?" she asked her companion, yawning.

"17:36."

She sighed, "What is that, like 5:36?"

"Correct." He was interesting when he talked. His voice sounded like Batman, cool calm and collective; until he was angry, it was more of a growling voice more than anything. His mouth wouldn't move when he talked either, from what Alice could deduce, 'blade's voice processor was separate. However, most of the time he was silent, and either nodded or shook his head to respond.

Getting up, she got dressed in a pair of snug light wash jeans, a black somewhat loose t-shirt and a black sweatshirt. Brushing her straight, waist length hair, she decided to clip it up. Taking all of it she twisted it, and placed a clip underneath it and her hair cascaded over top of it. The layers that were in her hair caused the ends to stick up, giving her an edgy look, satisfied, she walked downstairs with 'blade right behind her, to get something to eat. After finishing a bowl of cereal and a banana, Alice found the group in the 'living room' lounging around. They all look fairly amused when she walked through.

"Well, look who finally decided to wake up…" Chromia teased playfully.

"Hey, I was tired." Alice tried to retort. "Anyway, where's Jazz and Jolt?"

"Pwh, those two went out for a ride a few minutes ago. They couldn't stand not doing anything, anymore." Alice raised an eyebrow at Elita's statement.

"Uh-huh." She said slowly, thinking. "Well I'm on my way out as well, I'll see you ladies later. Oh and feel free to do what you want of course." She threw over her shoulder as she left the building with 'Blade in tow. She didn't want to tell them what she was about to do, they would convince her it couldn't be done.

* * *

Upon arriving at the empty NEST building, dusk had already fallen and the night had begun to settle in. Darkness surrounded the complex, as Alice made her way to what little remained of Ironhide. She had made up her mind to do the impossible; she was going to bring him back. Fireblade stood on a pile of blown up crates and shined his lights down on the rusted ashes of Ironhide.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Fireblade asked his creator knowing exactly what she was going to do.

She shook her head. "I don't know but the only way we will know is if I try."

Rust, a chemical process that cannot be reversed by any means, Alice was going to challenge that theory. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, sighing as she exhaled. Concentrating, a pale, blue light surrounded the pile of ashes and it began to float. The light shone brighter and brighter, energon readings exploded in mass numbers and still it grew stronger.

Alice thought harder and harder about what she wanted the power to do. "Come on, come on!" She yelled as she gave another powerful wave of energon. Suddenly, the pile of rust swirled about in the orb of energon surrounding it. It began to form innards as well as various other things at the same time. Pieces of his frame flew from every direction, collecting in the orb and assembled itself back to the way it was. Metals and plastics flew from off of the build and surrounding area, attaching itself to the known pieces of converted rust creating his armor once again.

Ironhide's form was complete. Exhausted, Alice stumbled back a bit but was caught by Fireblade. She smiled at him weerily, "Thanks." By this time she was sure every intelligence agent, solider, Autobot, and other military militia were on their way to her location.

With help from Fireblade, Alice stood on top of Ironhide's chest plate and opened the spark chamber. Steadying herself on two feet she closed her eyes and dug deep within the rift of the All-Spark within herself, to find and recreate Ironhide's spark. Pain ripped through her as it assembled in her hands. She didn't have enough energon flowing through her system to create the spark, it was pulling it out of her cells, bones, blood, and anywhere else it could.

Her body screamed with agony as she dropped to her knees. Not being able to hold it back anymore, she let loose an ear piercing shrill that echoed off of the empty streets. "Alice!" Fireblade growled at her, concerned. But his voice fell on deaf ears. The spark gathered all the energon it needed and stopped. Barely conscious, Alice managed to reach down and place the spark in the chamber. She watched his systems flood with life once again before the darkness consumed her and she collapsed.

* * *

"Are you positive? And the location?" there was a pause in the cabin. "Fuck, alright thanks." Colonel Lennex hung up his phone. "What seems to be the matter?" Optimus asked clearly seeing the distress on the young man's face.

"There's a huge energon reading at the NEST base, it blew out the ones on the perimeter of the base and signals are being detected as far away as the White House." Lennex replied. Optimus was silent for a second as he connected with Sideswipe and Bumblebee.

"Already on it boss." Was Sideswipes response before Optimus could speak.

"Sideswipe and Bumblebee are already within the city and on their way to the location." Optimus replied to the Colonel. He nodded his head and rubbed his eyes with one hand and sighed. "Just when I thought it was all over…"

"The reading is not a Decepticon, if that helps." Optimus reassured.

"What is it then?" The Colonel asked.

"Unknown, but it seems to have a signature like the All-Spark."

"But I thought that we destroyed it?"

"Correct, however its power and knowledge can never be destroyed. The cube was merely a vessel for it." Optimus answered.

* * *

Bumblebee and Sideswipe raced to the base. A large energon signal had suddenly appeared on their radars. And as confirmation, Optiums linked with them. When they were less than a block away from the base, they picked up a scream resonating from around the corner and a bright pale blue light that made the sky glow faintly. Rounding the corner they transformed and stood in shock at the sight before them.

Ironhide, Jolt, Jazz, Chromia, Acree, and Elita-one, all stood talking to one another. "What the…." Was all Sideswipe could say. It was as though they were staring at what the humans called 'ghosts'. They were surrounding Jazz as held a small still, figure in his hand that Jolt seemed to be examining.

"Well my scans indicate she completely depleted herself of energon. She should be alright in a couple of days' time." Jolt assured the group. They turned to see Bumblebee and Sideswipe standing there in disbelief.

"Hey, guys want to come join the party?" Chromia asked teasing the two meches who couldn't believe what they were seeing. The two came closer and looked at the femme lying in Jazz's hands. "Is that the femme we were following?" Sideswipe turned asking Bumblebee.

Before he could reply another voice answered. "Yes, you were following myself and Alice over here." The quadruped spoke. He had jumped up to the top of the semi-trailers that were still standing, so that he could at least be level with the rest of the Autobots.

"Huh," Ironhide grunted."It seems this little reunion just got bigger." Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Jolt, and the triplets turned to see Optimus and the rest of the Autobots and human forces turn the corner. Lennex got out of Optimus and he transformed. Ratchet, Mirage, Que, Leadfoot, Topspin, and Roadbuster, followed.

"Well, um, this was unexpected…" Lennex replied looking up at all of the Autobots. "Indeed, although it is good to see all of you alive, but how is this possible?" Optimus asked bewildered.

"Optimus, it is an honor to finally meet you, I am Fireblade, and this is Alice, the embodiment of the All-Spark."

* * *

**Sorry if this chapters' so short, I like trying to leave things on cliffhangers but that's easier said than done. Please comment if you can. Thanks! :)**


	5. Reasons We Bleed

Nightmares plagued Alice's once peaceful dream world. Memories of her own life and those of the Cybertronians clashed together in a mass smorgasbord of chaos. The lives of Cybertronians and her own meshed together and her mind worked furiously trying to separate the two. Nothing seemed real, yet the line that separated this from reality was blurred so everything was real. Images of her past flashed before her as she was forced to re-live them along with others.

_It was a warm dark night. Alice could feel that her body was smaller than it was now, and recognizing the surroundings, she was horrified to realize it was Los Angeles. She wanted to turn around and run but she had been in this sequence many times before, there was never any getting out of it. Being dragged along, the younger Alice was roaming the sketchy streets and alleyways wanting to go anywhere but home. A clatter ahead of her to her right along with a muffled scream caused her to sneak up to the corner in front of her. Pering around the corner, somehow through the darkness, she could see a large male figure struggling to keep his hold on a smaller figure of a woman. She could barely make out her desperate cries as they were muffled. The woman struggled against her captor's strenght. Looking around Alice saw several glass bottles laying around and picked them up. Grabbing a lid to a plastic trash can, she boldly decided to help. _

_Taking a deep, shaky breath she ducked into the shadows and prepared herself to attack. Everything sped up at that point. She threw the bottle at the man's head but missed causing him to look up. Alice threw the next bottle and this one collided with his face. His grip loosened on the frightened girl and she was able to get away. "Run!Go, I got him!", Alice yelled at the girl who stumbled past her. She nodded her head and took off running. Angered the man charged after the girl but Alice intercepted him, ramming him into the brick wall. Both of them staggered to get up. Alice tried to get up but pain entered her body and she was forced back down on the ground. Laying on her stomach she tried to push herself back up but was met with the same pain. Weight was on his side but she quickly elbowed him and was able to turn over to face her attacker._

_Time slowed down as she saw the blade reflect off of a dim street lamp. Too dazed for her mind to recognize the object, Alice was helpless as she watched the memory continue to , life sped up again as the cold knife ripped through her flesh and pushed past the bones of her rib cage. It stopped firmly with the hilt touching her skin. Pain sliced through her body and mind. It became her reality. As soon as the blade made contact with her skin a scream ripped through the night's seeped and spread through the open wound in her chest. Pain pulsed with each long painful beat of her heart. She tried to control her breathing, as it came up in ragged gasps, but stopped trying when breathing became too difficult. He covered her mouth as he continued his bombardment. Suddenly lights filled the air and the man's hand was removed. Lights, noises were clouded over by the mass amount of pain that consumed her._

_"Oh my god! Jim Get over here. This is ..." Noises and lights were blurred together in a mass collaboration of confusion. All that was left of time became lost in the dark space that surrounded them. With each beat of her heart, life ebbed away from her body. Clinging to the pain, she tried to say conscious and aware of the commotion around her. She closed her eyes, but was bombarded by noise. Noises started to fade. Darkness clouded her mind as terrible pressure was placed over top of her chest. She tried to scream but was sure that all that came out was a whimper. "Come on sweetheart you gotta stay with me..." a voice entered through all the confusion. She opened her eyes to see that she was inside of an ambulance and there was a woman standing over her. Her mouth was moving but she couldn't hear anything other than what she had already said. _

_Alice's mind was working overtime with the lack of blood flow to her head and in her veins. Her mind was starting to shut down. Blackness slowly spread across her consciousness. Soon she heard nothing. Then saw nothing. Felt nothing. Sensed nothing. She felt suspended in time and space. Like floating in water, everything was a peaceful bliss. The substance that surrounded her was warm, unlike her cold, blood drained body. She relaxed and let her body drift peacefully in the timeless black limbo._

Luckily the dream shifted and Alice was glad she didn't have to re-live the rest of the memory. However the memory she jumped to, wasn't any better than her own. It was Jazz's right before he off-lined. She could feel the 'emotions' that ran through the young mech's processor as he took on his opponent, Megatron. Jazz was so much smaller than him and he knew he didn't stand a chance, but he had to try. That was when pain raged through him as he was being ripped apart. Alice could feel every fiber and every linked piece of metal being torn and shredded. Alice bolted up right as the scream died on her lips. Tears were free flowing down her cheeks, as she tried to wipe them away. Alice hugged her legs to her chest as she tried to breath normally, slow her heart rate down and convince herself it was all in the past.

* * *

Fireblade had been laying on the floor next her bed in the medical bay, he had linked himself with Alice every time she slept she he could pull her out of her dreams. Otherwise, she could lose control on the power she contained. Soon after waking up himself, he sat up and placed his head on the bed. Alice jumped a bit but when she saw who it was relaxed instantly. Joining him on the floor she calmed down a bit, with her arms wrapped around his neck. Fireblade placed his head on hers as she snuggled closer to him. She was beyond words at how overjoyed she was to see him.

"How long have I been asleep?" She asked aloud, her voice scratchy with misuse.

"Three Earth days." Fireblade replied calmly.

"What?!" she jumped up. "Why didn't anybody wake me up!?" That was when she noticed her surroundings, this wasn't her room. She looked around and saw that it was a small room with a bed and a bathroom off to the side of the room. It was very plain and reeked of bleach and other cleaning products. Confused she looked at Fireblade, who she realized hardly fit in the room. Looking down she saw she was still in clothes that she wore when she re-assembled Ironhide.

"Where are we?" She asked dazed and utterly confused. Fireblade was about to speak but the door opened. A young blonde haired woman with light brown eyes, nearly shrieked when she saw Alice up. Calming down rather quickly she straighten up.

"Oh, good, I'm glad to see your up. I brought you some new clothes to wear, along with some shampoo and conditioner. I'll be right outside to take you to Rachet when you're done." She smiled and happily handed Alice the set of clothes in her hands. Although Alice didn't care if 'Blade saw her naked since Cybertronians didn't really have genders, she mentally told him it would be best if he sat outside, saying that she would explain later.

Once done with her shower, Alice dressed in the baggy black cargo pants, and matching black under armour short sleeved turtle neck the woman had handed her. That and other feminine clothing as well. Although the shirt was a bit big for her she was glad it wasn't as skin tight as it should have been. Satisfied with that, she turned to fix her hair. She ran her fingers through it, trying to untangle the knots from her tossing and turning.

Somewhat disappointed with the outcome of the results, she flipped her waist long hair over her shoulders and called it good. Walking out of her room Alice was greeted by her creation and the young woman who brought her the clothes. She indicated with a motion of her head for Alice to follow her.

"I'm Sergeant Maise (**_pronounced_** _**Maze)**_by the way." she held out her hand as they were walking for Alice to shake. Alice took her hand and shook it lightly and it was returned with a firm grasp.

"Alice, but I'm sure you already knew that."

The woman nodded, "Yes, you're quite the buzz around here." Alice hadn't been paying attention to the direction they were going. So when they came upon a set of doors, two large Autobot sized doors, and one human sized she was a bit worried. However, she was sure that Fireblade didn't just sit around and wait for her to wake up the whole time. The Sergeant opened the door for her and as soon as Fireblade made it through the door with her she closed it.

* * *

Low words of Cybertronian echoed off of the metal walls in the space. She was sure one of the voices was Ratchet, the other, although distinctive was hard to tell who it was.

'Well, stop moving then, you're only making it worse!_'_

_'_Sorry._' _

Alice turned right in the 'L' shaped room. Sitting on a large metal chair like structure, was Optimus. Ratchet seemed like he was still having a difficult time with his arm.

'It may be reattached but it's not as durable as it used to be.' Ratchet sighed as he fiddled with various components of his arm.

"Maybe I can be of some help then?" Alice interrupted. She was walking up a metal flight of stairs that led to a balcony which was somewhat level with the Autobots when she announced her presence. Fireblade followed right instep with her. The two not startled by her sudden appearance were actually amazed that she understood them.

"You understood what we were saying?" Ratchet asked surprised, switching back to the Earth language of English. Alice nodded in response as she leaned on the railing in front of her.

"That and the Language of the Primes as well as a few other of your lost languages." She hoped she didn't make it sound like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Anyway, may I?" she said directing her question more towards Optimus then Ratchet.

He nodded, "I don't see why not."

"Ratchet, do you have any spare metal I could use?" Ratchet merely laughed.

"Use whatever you need, considering this place is in pieces anyways." Alice smiled somewhat at his comment, seeing the humor.

"This may hurt a bit depending on what I might have todo, you ready?" She warned turning to look at Optimus, who shook his head in replay.

Closing her eyes she channeled the energy into her hands and then directed it towards Optimus. Once the energon made contact with his frame it ignited like a wildfire of electricity. She could feel it engulf his whole being, as she went to work mending the leader off the Autobots. She had done this procedure many times before and even from the first time it felt like she was on autopilot. Several sheets of metal came flying from across the room as the engeron continued to fix and reconfigure broken or missing pieces.

Ratchet watched as Alice continued working on his leader's limb. Simultaneously he was compiling work of his own. Multiple scans and several other procedures were running as she mended him. Even now with Alice standing right in front of him proving that she indeed was the embodiment of the All-Spark, couldn't process.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Ratchet turned around to find Jolt making his way over to where he stood. "Indeed."


	6. Seeing Red, Kinda

Alice finished with Optimus quicker than she thought she would. The Autobot leader thanked her but she simply reminded him that it was her duty as having the powers of the All-Spark. She also mentioned that she as a human, even now, felt like she owed it to all of them for saving Earth at least three times. Being called to political matters he was soon gone. Sighing she turned her back to the railing and looked up at the ceiling.

"What's wrong?" She turned and found Jolt giving her a look.

She shook her head and turned towards him. "Nothing really, just wondering what happens now? I mean Chicago's been almost leveled. Megatron and Sentinel are dead... and..." she paused thinking how to word what she wanted to say next.

"And what?" he asked pushing her to say more.

"And I'm here now along with you and everyone else... I don't know, I guess I'm just worried at how I'm going to fit into all of this. I mean I'm not exactly the soldier type. Sure, I know how to fight... I'm a girl on top of everything too..." She ended huffing at the last bit.

Jolt smiled at her, "We'll figure something out, however something there's something else bothering you too though, isn't there?"

She looked up at him and gave him crooked smile. "Sometimes, I think you know me a little too well." Alice sighed heavily and took a deep breath in. "I'm worried about the humans more than anything." He gave her a questioning look and she answered with one word.

"Experimentation."

Fireblade growled loudly startling Alice a bit, she had been so caught up in her own world she forgot he was loyally waiting for her.

"That ain't going to happen, not on my watch." Both Alice and Jolt to see Jazz walk in with Ironhide. The other two nodded in agreement.

Alice giggled a bit, "Aww, thanks guys. But I can't hide behind giant ass-kicking robots forever." She really like these guys better than humans most of the time.

"True, just know we got your back, shorty." Jazz add. Alice continued to smile and nod when Ironhide spoke up.

"Speaking of which, Colonel Lennox would like to speak with you about some matter."

"Hmm, ok. Where can I find him?"

"I believe he's talking to that woman..."

"Mrs. Mearing?" Alice asked.

"_Yes, __her._" Ironhide said with disgust. He had never really liked any of the authoritative figures the US government had sent. None of them were very appreciative of the Autobots. Alice laughed softly at his tone of voice.

Taking her leave Alice and Fireblade wandered around the base for some time before she found the entrance to the back of the building. Climbing up the metal staircase and soon found her office. It was somewhat hidden in the back of the complex, but still near the Autobots portion of the base. Walking towards the door she could pick up her's and the Colonel's voice. Alice paused and listened.

"So, what you're telling me her father worked for NASA, but never mentioned having been married or a daughter?"

"Yes, ma'am. There also appears that soon after his death, they tried to erase any evidence that linked him to NASA."

Alice decided it was a good time to come in, it seemed she had some explaining to do. Knocking on the door a female voice told her to come in.

"Ah, Ms. Donovan, just who I wanted to see." Alice interrupted her before she could say anything else.

"I apologize for overhearing your conversation just now. I however, can probably fill you in on what NASA wanted to cover up."

Mearing raised an eyebrow and then gestured for Lennox and her to sit. "Please continue." Mearing asked.

"My father worked as an accountant for NASA, employed in early 90's. Soon after I was born in '94, my father found that the calculations from the '70's onward were incorrect. Instead of immediately bring it up to his superiors, he dug deeper. He found a common, recurring name throughout his research. Patrick Gould. Dylan's Gould's father. As a result of his digging, red flags from people Dylan had intertwined into NASA were shot up. My father James, knew what he had gotten into and had sent me and my mother Anita, to Arizona. Soon after we found out my father had been murdered in our house and a few months later my mother was killed in a car accident. I was place into foster care. I was five at the time. And now here I am 28 foster families later." Alice finished.

"Well that's all very interesting, but children don't belong in government business." Was all she said and she went back to shuffling paperwork on her desk.

"That's kinda harsh don't you think?" Lennox pushed. Before Mearing could answer Alice held up her hand at Lennox.

"It's ok I understand. However, just remember whatever happens because I'm not here is your own undoing." With that Alice got up and left.

Out of the office she saw Fireblade waiting for her. "You ok?" he asked knowing full well that she wasn't.

"Peachy, just peachy." She managed to answer through her teeth.

Walking out onto the main floor of the building things started to go haywire. First it started with the ceiling. The metal supporting the concrete structure started to groan from an unknown pressure. What was left of the military vehicles inside began to fall apart as she walked by them. Nuts, bolts, rivets and screws all started coming loose. Pieces fell as their joints came undone. Once outside of the facility some of the semi-trucks that were left just outside, bit by bit came apart fairly quickly.

Alice oblivious to everything that was going on around her leaned up against the building, and a voice entered her ears but she didn't hear it. Closing her eyes she massaged her temples. The groaning of the building worsened as the building started to show signs of the stress weighing down on it.

"Alice!" Fireblade growled severely at her, his voice finally making it through to her. Her eyes snapped open as she glared at him.

"What?!" she hissed at him. Looking around she saw the what she was doing and immediately closed her eyes and focused on calming down. The building groaning stopped and the effects were reversed. Parts of the vehicles stopped falling apart as well. Suppressing her feelings within her the air stilled again and calmed. Opening her eyes again she saw Jazz walking over to her.

"That bad, huh?" asked bending down a bit. Alice looked away trying to control herself again, succeeding she looked back up at him.

"Children aren't allowed to get involved with the government." she said finally.

"Children, the only children I see are most of these soldiers as well as Sideswipe and Jolt." Ironhide spoke as he walked up to them.

"Hey! I heard that!" Sideswipe responded, who happened to be across the bay. Ironhide looked across to see him and answered in a gruff voice, "Good!". Earning him a look from Sideswipe and a chuckled laugh from Jazz and a loud giggle from Alice.

A voice from afar called Alice's name and she soon saw Colonel Lennox jogging over to them. He looked around once he caught up to her. "What the hell happened here?!" shock somewhat easy to read on his face. Alice frowned at his statement, and he noticed.

Jazz spoke up, "Oh, just a one of the perks being Alice." he said with a smile. Alice quietly thanked him and looked back at Lennox. With that the two mechs walked away to see how they could help any of the soldiers.

"Anyway, your 18 aren't you?" he asked. Alice slowly shook her head.

"Do you have anywhere to go?" He seemed to asked in a concerned voice. Again Alice shook her head.

"I don't know, the place we were staying out was only temporary. I managed to reroute the electricity of several other nearby buildings but I'm sure they've figured out their being robbed by now. " She smiled a bit at the last part.

"Alright it's settled, you're coming back with me." Alice opened her mouth to object but Lennox silenced her. "I already informed my wife and she agreed, and besides half of the Autobots are coming back with me anyway." he said exaggerating a bit at the end.

Alice just stood and stared at him "Sir?"

Lennox had turned to inform that he was leaving when he turned around and looked at her dead in the eyes. "Alice, that's one of my best friends over there." he said looking towards Ironhide who was helping several of the soldiers move what was left of a helicopter. "I watched as he was killed before my eyes. And there he is, 'Blade over here explained to me everything." looking back at Alice he continued. "I think someone who brought us back 6 important Autobots should at least have somewhere to go."

Alice smiled and looked at her feet, "Thanks.."

* * *

**Sorry it's kinda short. I'll introduce Mirage properly in the next chapter! Let me know what you think. Comment if you can. Thanks! :)**


	7. Guardian Angel in Red

"You called me, sir?" Mirage asked walking into his commander's bearaks.

"Ah yes, thank you for seeing me on such short notice. It seems that Alice is being taken in by Colonel Lennox and is going with him to his place out in the country. I would like to make you her guardian. I'm sure you're aware of what she is by now?" Mirage nodded. "Good, you fought bravely the other day, and I'm sorry to have to shove something else on to you..."

Mirage held up his hand to politely stop Optimus. "Don't worry about it sir."

Optimus nodded, "I have already informed Ironhide, Sideswipe, and Bumblebee who will be accompanying you."

"Is that everything, sir?" Mirage asked before he left.

"Yes you may go, it seems the others are getting ready to move out." With that Mirage left, somewhat upset at the turn of events that just took place.

* * *

"We'll be leaving as soon as your guardian returns." Ironhide replied to Alice's question on when they would be leaving. She already had on her riding gear. She decided that Nightshade need the rest and let her be.

Alice tried to hide her excitement but failed miserably. Regardless of the fact that she was the All-Spark, she still found meeting new Autobots exciting. "Really? Who's that?" she asked.

"Mirage." he put simply.

She wasn't exactly sure how to feel about that. She knew the spy from the memories the All-Spark had. At one point his loyalty had been questioned but was proved time and time again, even just recently. Like Sideswipe, he too wasn't fond of this planet or its inhabitants. Frowning a bit she sighed.

"What's with the face, sweetheart?" Alice looked over to see the three sisters make their way over to her. It was Acree who spoke.

"I'm just worried that's all..." she said softly to the three.

"About what?" Elita asked this time.

"Mirage, is my guardian, I don't have a problem with it I just know that he doesn't like humans, thats all." Alice said looking away from the trio.

"Well if he gives you any grief cause you're human, just let us know. We'll take care of it for you." Chromia said.

Alice laughed, "I guess I just worry he's as bad as Side's. You know he's got the skills of Bumblebee but the attitude of Sideswipe when it comes to humans. He's like a Bumbleswipe or a Sidebee. " Alice finsihed laughing aloud still.

Chromia, Elita, and Acree laughed with her, and she even earned a small chuckle from Ironhide.

A few seconds later Mirage came around the corner with a look that said it all.

"Looks like we're all here, let's move out." Ironhide said as he transformed. Bumblebee, Sideswipe, and Mirage followed. Alice walked over to his alternate mode.

"_Mi dispiace._" (I'm sorry), she said in Italian to the red mech. Although a bit shocked that she spoke Italian, he replied.

"_Per quale motivo?_" (What for?) he asked sighing a bit.

"_Perché so che si vuole andare a casa, e non ti piace l'uomo più di tanto. Ma ora si deve mettere con me._" (Because I know that you want to go home, and you don't like humans that much. But now you have to put up with me. ) With that she walked over to Fireblade and hopped on.

Mirage was a bit stunned, everyone knew he didn't like this planet much. All he really wanted to go home, but he was stuck here, working with the humans. No one had ever apologized to him for that. Of course no one really knew just how much he wanted to go back to Cybertron either. He had been part of an élite upper class back home and didn't involve himself in the conflicts that consumed most of the planet. It wasn't until he was forced to choose a side that he sided with the Autobots to defend his home.

* * *

Out on the open road heading towards the Colonel's place out in the middle of nowhere, Alice became bored fairly quickly. Dusk was only an hour or two away by the time they had left. Since she was in the middle of the pack of Autobots, she sped up to catch up to Sideswipe and Bumblebee who were out in front, with a devious plan in mind.

"I'll race you guys." She said slyly.

"You're on fleshling!" Was Sideswipes immediate answer. Bumblebee welcomed the challenge as well.

Laughing Alice asked Fireblade to link up with Ironhide. "Hey 'Hide. You want to set up the rules and range?"

"For what?" he asked cautiously.

Alice giggled, "For the race."

"With who?" He pushed.

"Me, 'Sides, and 'Bee."

Ironhide grunted in response. "I want a good clean race from you three, got it."

"Yeah, I got it." Sideswipe half-heartedly. Of course Bumblebee didn't have to be told at all.

That had just past the road sign that read 'Bethesda 10 mi.'

"How about Bethesda?" Alice asked 'Hide.

"Alright that sounds fair. Bethesda it is. At the next mile marker you guys can start."

* * *

Music. Linkin Park "Faint".

* * *

Alice out feel the tension rising as the mile marker drew closer and closer. Suddenly a voice over the the link sounded, "Go."

The reaction time of all three of them was perfect. Fireblade revved his engine, forcing the cycle onto one wheel, once it landed they took off. Alice watched as the speedometer reached 100 then 120, she watched the world blur out of the corner of her eyes. Looking behind her she realized that 10 miles wasn't that far of a distance when you driving faster than the speed limit. Sideswipe and Bumblebee were right on her tail.

"Come on faster, faster!" She said excitedly to 'Blade. In an instant he sped up and Alice looked down at her speedometer again, 150 and gaining. A curve ahead that turned onto the I-495 caused her to double take, but she felt confident that Fireblade knew what he was doing. She could feel what he wanted to do through their link they shared, and when the curve came up they leaned into the turn together. She could feel her knee guards skid the ground as they slowed a bit into the curve, for a moment she let go of the handle with her right hand and let her hand slide across the ground. Once out of the turn they shot out at around 170 and sat upright again.

Mirage couldn't help but like the femme a bit more, much to his displeasure. He also had the unfortunate feeling that he was going to enjoy getting to know her. He pulled out of the group and began to follow the meches trailing behind her. He was her guardian after all.

Both Sideswipe were neck and neck as they rocketed into the curve. As Alice slowed down a bit they watched as sparks flew off of her knee guards and off of 'Blade's armor. Then she sped up again. Both of them were forced through the turn at a slant since the ground wasn't meant to be driven at 140 mph. They 'drifted' as the humans called it, out of the corner and back on to the main interstate.

Shooting out of the curve Alice and Fireblade swerved between cars as they continued to sped up. Adrenaline ran wild throughout her system. Fireblade could feel some of the energon seeping through Alice as her hold on it decreased.

Sideswipe manage to pull ahead of Bumblebee a bit and caught up with Alice. That was when he noticed she was glowing a faint light blue. It engulfed her and Fireblade. Confused a bit, but still confident in winning, he pulled up alongside of her and then pulled ahead of them a bit. Bumblebee managed to do the same on her left side.

"Sorry boys, but I'm not letting you win that easily." Alice said as she connected to their comm. link.

'Ready 'Blade.' she asked as connected to him through their own link.

Just then she let loose some of her control of over the energon she concealed. Fireblade instantly absorbed the energon, they shot past the other two mechs and quickly reached 200. Alice laughed as she realized they just broke the record for fastest production motorcycle. However weaving in and out of traffic was becoming difficult to say the least, by herself that was. Alice too busy enjoying the speed at which they were going, that she didn't see the sign for Bethesda. She looked behind her and didn't see Sideswipe or Bumblebee either.

"Um, guys, where's Bethesda?" She directed towards everyone at this point.

"You pasted it." Sideswipe sneered.

Alice laughed, "Guess we know who won then, huh?" she mocked him as be slowed down to the speed limit.

"Whatever, I wasn't really trying anyway." He commented back.

"Aw-huh, right, you keep telling yourself that." she said as she continued to laugh.

"Where are you?" She heard Bumblebee's curious voice ask.

"I'm at the first exit to Rockville, where are you guys?"

"Mirage is almost at your location and the rest of us are at the last exit for Bethesda." Ironhide replied.

Alice looked behind her and sure enough the red Ferrari Italia was right behind her. She smirked at his ability to keep up.

"Beh, io sono impressionato." (Well I'm impressed) Alice said to him. He grunted somewhat in response. She sighed, she was never going to get anywhere with him.

* * *

The instant Sarah heard Ironhide's familiar engine, she bolted out the door with 4 year old Annabell in her arms. The Colonel jumped out of the truck and rushed up to meet them. Despite that Sarah knew he was safe and sound, because of the call he placed the moment he found an operational phone, she burst out into tears. Anna, confused by her mother's reaction, gave her father a big hug, welcoming him home.

Alice watched the scene play out. Sadness ripped through her heart as she watch the couple and their daughter. She hid her emotions well, for the only one who know she was suffering was Fireblade. Already transformed, like the rest of the group, he nudged her gently trying to comfort her. She smiled somewhat in response, and hugged the quadruped who had knelt down to her.

"Alice, come on! Come over here." Lennox had called with some excitement in his voice to her. She jogged over to the untied family and was greeted with a warm smile from Sarah.

"Sarah this is Alice, Alice, Sarah." Alice smiled as she shook the hand the was outstretched to her.

"Annabell this is Alice, who's going to be staying with us for awhile." Anna grinned from ear to ear she she let go of her mothers had and latched onto Alice's.

"I'm showing her my room!" she announced as she whisked Alice into the house. Alice barely enough time to take off her riding boots, before she was being dragged up the stairs.

* * *

After a dinner of baked macaroni and cheese, with roasted chicken, green beans (much to Annabell's dislike) and mashed potatoes and gravy, Sarah showed Alice where her room would be. She handed her an oversized t-shirt and pajama bottoms to sleep in for the night. Then she promptly said that they would have a girl's day tomorrow and would take her shopping. The room was a nice size with a floral print bed set and two mint green walls. There was small chest of draws at the end of the bed that was a light wooden color that matched the bed frame and the night stands. The floor, like much of the rest of the house, was a wooden.

Changing into her evening wear, she opened the door and was happily greeted by Anna who grabbed her hand and drug her back to her room which was right next to hers upstairs. Sitting down she declared that they were going to draw the Autobots.

Alice loved to draw along with many other things that she hardly had time to do anymore. She set out with a goal that she would draw all the Autobots for Annabell, since she hadn't seen all of them yet. With Anna sitting between her legs they sat at the small table in her room and drew.

"You want to draw your dad first, before we start on the Autobots?" Alice asked the young girl. She squealed a 'yes'.

Alice tried to draw him with as much realism as possible. Before she even realized it, she was drawing him with Anna in his arms and a teary eyed Sarah next to him. It was a picture that would probably be burned into her head for the rest of her life, the moment the family was reunited. She sighed as she splashed a bit of color into the picture and called it good. Alice named it 'Annabell's Hero' at the bottom and signed it. She laughed inwardly at herself for such an old habit. Setting it aside she began to work on Optimus Prime.

"Daddy! Daddy! Look what Alice made!" She didn't even realized Anna had grabbed it and ran out the door with it. She heard Anna's little feet thump down the stairs and muffled voices that followed. Swift, almost silent footsteps then came up the stair which she gathered were the Colonel's.

"Huh, so you really did draw this.." Alice looked up and blinked, she had no idea what was so great about the drawing, it was only as realistic as she could make it. She nodded her head and continued to watch him with his little girl on his hip. He looked at her with the picture held carefully in one hand and the other was grabbing his shirt.

"Alright, little missy sounds like you have a big day ahead of you, time for bed." he said as he laid her in bed.

"AWW! Already?!" Alice laughed her adorable voice. "But, I wanted to draw with Alice some more." she added.

"You'll have all day with me tomorrow, how does that sound?" Alice said to the little girl. Anniabell an excited 'ok' as her response. With that Alice walked out of the room to her own. As much as she appreciated the oversized t-shirt and pajama bottoms, she didn't feel comfortable.

She heard Sarah close the door to their room and heard Lennox walk downstairs. Alice then proceeded downstairs as well to find him.

"I'm going to go find 'Blade, um, I might not come in until the morning..." Alice said finding him in the kitchen.

"Alright, I guess I'll see you then. Good night." he smiled at her as he went back upstairs.

"Yeah, good night."

* * *

Alice walked out into the warm night air and took a deep breath in. It felt like it was the first time in her life that she could actually breathe. Taking the clip out of her hair, she twisted it up into a bun and placed the clip back in her hair.

She located her companion through their bond, and found him in the cliché barn that was several hundred feet away. She saw the small light the lit up the open space between the two buildings, that hung on the outside of the barn. She closed the space between her and barn in a sprint. Once she there she realized that it was a lot bigger than it looked.

Stepping back a bit she took a running leap and scaled the side of the structure till she made it to the window at the top. Teetering on the ledge of the window, she stepped on to a beam that ran the length of the building. Inside was dimly lit by a light hung by the beam she was standing on. She could hear the Autobots talking softly down below. Quietly, she ran across the beam till she reached the loft that sat high in the rafters, as she listened to the conversation below.

"Nothing significant over on this end, sir." Ironhide said in Cybertronian. "Will do, over and out." He pushed off of the post he was hardly leaning on and walked over to the rest of the group.

"Awh! This is slag! I can't believe we have to sit and watch this femme!"

"Show some respect, Sideswipe! Like it or not she's the All-Spark now!" Ironhide replied as he smacked him upside his head. He grumbled as he sat down in defeat. "And I for one am grateful, as should you."

Mirage gave up on listening to them quarrel a while ago. While he was listening to Prime something above had caught his eye. Looking up into the rafters, he saw nothing but could feel that someone or something was there.

Alice watched as Mirage seemed to suddenly be aware of her, she turned around to go back the other way.

"Alice, what are you doing?" Fireblade's voice asked as it echoed inside the building. Alice shrieked as she didn't hear or suspect companion to come up behind her. Jumping a bit in shock, she lost her footing on the beam and gravity took care of the rest.

* * *

**Please Read!**

**1.) Since Mirage is the focus of this story, who thinks I should change the titles so that they all have something to do with red?**

**2.) I don't know Italian . (I wish I did) so if you see something that is wrong, please let me know and I will correct it. (I do have Google translator to thank though.)**

**Well this one took a bit, sorry about that. Anyway hope you guy enjoyed it! I apologize if some of my words or phrases are redundant, I have a tendency to do that a lot and can't always catch them. Comment if you can, thanks! :) And for those of you who have commented I thank you so much, it helps me with inspiration in a way. lol.**

**_Silent Midnight Shadow_  
**


	8. Dawn's Red Glow

Time slowed, and then stood still altogether. Alice could only hear her heartbeat, as she fell. She took in a deep breath and twisted her body to prepare for her landing.

None of the Autobots were expecting Alice to fall out of the rafters. Panic sifted through their processors as she got closer to the ground. They all knew that they wouldn't make it in time to catch her, not even Mirage who was walking in her direction.

Like a cat, Alice landed on her feet, then to rid of her momentum, she bent her knees and then rolled forward a couple of times, ending on her heels. She immediately stood up and glared at Fireblade.

They had watched how she landed silently and tumbled forward several times and then immediately stood up. They were in complete shock. Mirage looked up and estimated it was about 30 human feet high, then he looked back down at her yelling at Fireblade.

"What the hell was that for!? What are you trying to do, kill me?!" she yelled up to him. He jumped down without a sound and rolled his optics.

"I had simply asked a question as to what you were doing. Last time I checked that doesn't even come close to trying to kill somebody." Fireblade stated. Alice couldn't help but smile.

"Um, what just happened?" Sideswipe questioned aloud.

"That is a very good question." Ironhide said as they all stared at the femme. Bee had gotten up and walked over to her and crouched down next to her.

"Are you ok?!" he asked surprised. Gently he poked her with one finger causing her to laugh.

"I'm fine," she looked up at him confused. "Why you ask?"

"Because fleshlings like you don't just fall from that height and not have _something_ broken!" Sideswipe exclaimed. Alice looked up to the beam that she was one and then back down at the ground. "Well, how high do you think it is from here to there?"

"I'd say at least 35 human feet I suppose." Ironhide estimated. Alice tried to hide her laugh but failed, and ended up giggling a bit.

"Is that it?" Alice said between breaths.

"What do you mean is that it?! That's quite a ways for a human." Bumblebee chimed with his slight British accent.

"Jazz had me jump three times that. That was nothing." Alice said as she continued to giggle.

They all look at her confused. Alice saw and calmed down enough to explain.

"Jazz put me through training." Alice said. She looked around at the walls for a second and then gave herself a small running start before she scaled the side of it.

"Anyway long story short, I was jumping off of at least 150 feet before Jolt chewed him out. But besides that my body can handle it." She said as she climbed the wall. She reached level of the beam and jumped off of the wall. Twisting in mid-air she caught the beam and hoisted herself up.

"Oh that reminds me," she continued, " Mirage, Bumblebee, and Sideswipe, could you guys stand in a group for a second? Please?" she said smiling down at them.

"Why should we?" Sideswipe questioned suspiciously. Ironhide rolled his optics at the young meche as he pushed him into the group.

"Just do what she asks for Primus' sake." He said in a low voice. They looked at her questionably. She turned to look at Fireblade who nodded his head up at her.

Alice closed her eyes and focused. Instantaneously, a blue glow cover them and began to heal them. Within a couple of minutes Alice finished. "Feel any better?" she asked.

"Amazing." Bee exclaimed. "Thanks." Alice smiled.

"Yeah, no problem. It would probably heal over time, however I have to hold most of the energy in unfortunately." She yawned and made her way to the hayloft at the other end of the barn. "Beside, I feel it's my responsibility to keep you guys alive." Flopping down on the hay, Fireblade soon joined her by gracefully leaping to the spot.

"Oh one other thing, Sarah wants to take me shopping tomorrow. Any takers?" She asked as her eyes began to close.

"I'll go, you meches should rest for a day at least." Ironhide replied. Alice barely heard him but managed to say thanks before sleep took over.

* * *

Mirage couldn't enter re-charge that night. Words of what Alice had said caught him off guard a bit. The same could not be said of the other three. They had fallen into a re-charge soon after Alice had, and were in their alt-mode in the human structure. He too was in his alt-mode 'pretending' as the humans said to be recharging. Now he watched her sleeping body toss and turn in the rafters next to her companion. He hadn't entered a recharge state since she fell asleep. Fireblade sighed as he watched her lie still for a moment. Gently he began to nudge her till she was awake.

"It's 3:32, do you want to go back to sleep?" He asked her in a low voice. She rubbed her eyes and shook her head as she yawned.

"No, you need to sleep. Could you tell me what constellations are out?" She asked softly. He would argue that he didn't need to re-charge but it would be pointless.

"Lyra, Corona Austrailis, Sagittarius, and Cygnus seems are the main ones right now. Jupiter and Venus seem to be up as well. Would you like me to list the other minor constellations?"

Alice smiled and got up, "No, I'm good thanks. I'll find a book to assimilate with later." Quietly she got up and pat him on the head. She walked to the beam and took off across it, once reaching the open window on the other side of the barn she jumped, landing silently. Curiosity got the better of him. Silently Mirage transformed and without a sound followed the young femme.

Alice looked up at the sky and smiled from her position on the ground. She had found a ledge that overlooked the farm and was high above the rest of the surrounding area. The seemingly never ending darkness shrouded the area, causing the sky to glow. She could clearly make out the constellations Fireblade had mentioned as well as Jupiter and Venus.

She drew up her knees to her chest and laid her head on them. Closing her eyes and could feel the darkness around her set in on her heart. She kept everything held within her because she had to. Fireblade took away some of the pressure of holding most of her emotions in.

She could feel some of it seep out through the cracks recently, like with what happened at the base. Usually things like that she had under control but, it seemed to be failing. She knew she wasn't perfect and some of them weren't expecting her to be, the others was another story. She knew somewhere there was a breaking point, where she would possible she lose herself. Words suddenly found their way out of her and a voice she hadn't heard in some time came out.

_I've been looking in the mirror for so long._  
_That I've come to believe my soul's on the other side._  
_All the little pieces falling, shatter._  
_Shards of me,_  
_Too sharp to put back together._  
_Too small to matter,_  
_But big enough to cut me into so many little pieces._  
_If I try to touch her,_  
_And I bleed,_  
_I bleed,_  
_And I breathe,_  
_I breathe no more._

_Take a breath and I try to draw from my spirits well._  
_Yet again you refuse to drink like a stubborn child._  
_Lie to me,_  
_Convince me that I've been sick forever._  
_And all of this,_  
_Will make sense when I get better._  
_But I know the difference,_  
_Between myself and my reflection._  
_I just can't help but to wonder,_  
_Which of us do you love._  
_So I bleed,_  
_I bleed,_  
_And I breathe,_  
_I breathe no..._  
_Bleed,_  
_I bleed,_  
_And I breathe,_  
_I breathe,_  
_I breathe_  
_I breathe no more_.

A tear fell from her eyes but she quickly wiped it away and shut the pain back inside. She didn't want anyone to feel her pain.

Mirage watched her from a distance, her lonely figure was easy to spot on the cliff that overlooked the small farm. He had been watching her from the shadows when he had heard her, what the humans called singing. Then she went back to watching the watching of stars. She was different than the other humans, but he couldn't quite place what about her that was. Sure, she had the All-Spark living in her, but there was something other than that.

It was still dark but the dawn's light began to bleed into the horizon line when Alice slowly got up. She made her way to the house and made her way to the dining room where she found the Colonel. Alice looked at the clock on the microwave that sat behind him a ways, 5:43.

"Morning Colonel." Alice whispered a bit.

He looked up from the paper he was reading and chuckled. "Morning, it's Will by the way."

Alice scrunched her face a bit at the thought of calling him his first name, it sounded funny. "I would have thought you would have slept in." she continued.

He turned and looked at the clock and rolled his eyes a bit. "Old habits die hard I guess. What about you?"

"Insomniac, anyway Ironhide volunteered to take us shopping." Alice mentioned as she sat down at the table and took in what she saw.

Behind Will was the kitchen. The room like the rest of the house had light, hardwood floors. The modern cabinets we a dark red. There was an island in the middle of the kitchen with an open plan so there was nothing in between the kitchen and the dining room. Between the kitchen and the front door was the living room the to the right of the front door was the stairs leading up to the three rooms. Off to the right was a spare bedroom. Looking back at Will she pondered what he had out in the shed that was next to the house that she remembered seeing.

"Hey, do you have a paintball gun?" Alice asked.

He was about to take a sip of coffee, when she asked, he paused and looked up at her.

"What do you need a paintball gun for?" he asked her questionably setting the coffee mug down.

Alice sighed, "I'm going to apply as liaison for the Autobots."

* * *

******The song Alice sang is _Breath No More by Evanescence._**

**Sorry its kinda short, I'm trying to keep to the personalities of the characters and its easier said than done. Hmm, that sounds familiar lol, anyway comment if you can. Thanks! :)**


	9. A Flash of Red

After discussing the liaison position with Will, he agreed to help but only if he felt she was ready. After eating she walked out to the barn to find Fireblade waking up from his re-charge state. She motioned with her for him to follow her to the garage that was next to the house. Upon finding a tool chest in the dark of the garage, Alice gabbed several tools she thought she would need and headed out to where Fireblade was waiting.

"What are you doing?" he asked aloud, as curiosity got the best of him.

"Well, after I healed Mirage last night, I thought of a way to somewhat reverse engineer your cloaking shield to mimic that of a regular Doberman. That way it would appear that you are just a dog." Alice replied as she removed a side piece of armor from his frame.

"What for?" a voice came from nowhere. Alice jumped a bit and turned towards that sound of the voice. She turned to see Ironhide hovering over her.

"Good grief, Ironhide." Alice muttered to herself. "So he can come with me." She said to him. Ironhide looked at her cursorily.

"How else do you think I don't need football fields of concrete surrounding me at all times?" she asked him.

"Hmm, interesting." he said. Alice went back to what she was doing but noticed Ironhide's interest.

"Would you like me to explain?" she asked going back to her work.

"If it wouldn't trouble you." he replied.

Alice smiled and shook her head while taking a deep breath in as she continued to work on Fireblade's device. "Not at all." she said smiling up at the black armored mech. "The All-Spark emits energy, just as sparks in Cybertronians emit energy they also emit a specific frequency that is unique to every Cybertronian. It's almost the same way with the energy that the All-Spark's gives off, however it doesn't generate the frequency, just the energy. But because energy takes its form as waves, or particles it can still be detected. The All-Spark hides a bit of the signature, and I cover most of the signature myself, but because I haven't accepted the All-Spark completely yet, I can't hide all of it. What I can't, Fireblade can, as long as were not too far away from each other." Alice explained. Through the conversation, she had taken the small half-dollar sized piece out of its place, bringing it into the light to examine.

"What do you mean, you haven't accepted the All-Spark completely? Isn't it already a part of you?" he asked as his curiosity grew about the femme. He watched as her hands stopped working on the part and she became still. Fireblade nudged her shoulder gently.

"In order to become the true form of the All-Spark, I have to lose my humanity and become Cybertronian. Right now the All-Spark is dormant inside of me, the energy that you see is what's leaking through the barrier that she created to protect me from the effects of the energy. However, because it does not seal all of the energy within, I'm..." she hesitated for a moment before continuing, "I'm... not completely human anymore. I still have to eat, sleep, and breathe, but beside that a a few other things, I'm Cybertronian."

"Like what for example?" He asked as his curiosity continued.

"Well, my bones for example, aren't made from calcium anymore, there more of a lightweight metal now, stuff that I'm not even sure what's organic or not. Anyway it's one reason why I could handle Jazz's training, as well as that fall." she said smiling up at him. "In fact I was wondering when we get back if you could train me for a bit." Alice said as she finished working on the part.

She clicked it back into place and the instant the blue energy was flowing through it Fireblade's form flicked and changed shape. He didn't transform, but his outward appearance suddenly looked like that of an organic Doberman, however his eyes were a bright, almost glowing blue. There was also one other change, there was a harness around his form that read, 'service dog'.

She smiled at her work. "Perfect."

"Actually, I think Colonel Ryder is coming out here to assess your skills today. It would appear that Lennox is helping you become part of the team?" he asked questioning her.

"Yes it would, however I didn't think it would happen so quickly. I only told Will a couple of hours ago that I wanted to be the Autobot's liaison. He agreed to help, but only if he felt that I was ready."

"I see, well if Colonel Ryder has been the one to assess your skills, don't be surprised if she says you're not ready. I don't mean to doubt you, just don't get your hopes up." She nodded at the large, black mechs words.

"I'm going to assume that, that is where Bumblebee was heading this morning?" Alice asked putting Fireblade back together.

"Indeed, the mech couldn't wait to leave. Wait how did you.." Ironhide trailed off for a bit before looking down at the young female looking up at him. Knowledge and wisdom were easily seen in her vivid green eyes.

"Why doesn't he just stay with her, why is he here with us?"Alice questioned, concern being hinted at in her voice.

"Because Optimus believes he should 'take a vacation' as you say it." He looked down at her shaking her head as she walking into the garage that was near the house. He heard the drawers open and the sound of things being put away.

She walked back out and sighed, with her palm on her forehead and the other on her hip. "It's not a vacation when your spark is longing to be else where. I'm sure he would much rather never have a break from war then to leave her, as well as yours"

"You know..." Ironhide started but Alice finished.

"Unfortunately yes, I feel everything, everyone of you. Autobot or Decepticon. I know all of your memories, all of your dreams, all of your fears, your deaths... even your pain. When a Cybertronian is off-lined, they become one with me since the Well of Sparks is on Cybertron. It is a pain and feeling that I would not wish on even Meagtron, himself." Ironhide was about to speak but she smiled suddenly, "However, there is the opposite of that." she said with a bit of excitement growing in her eyes.

He looked down at her confused for a moment before the thought hit him. "Life..." he whispered quietly. She nodded her head. "But we don't have any Sparklings, do we?" he questioned.

"No, not on this planet." she answered the mech, smiling.

"That means you know where we all are, right?" a new voice entered the conversation. Alice didn't even have to turn around to know it was Sideswipe. As she turned the young mech came closer to her, frustration, anger and several other emotions filtered through his normally playful, uncaring facade.

Ironhide had heard the silver warrior awaken from his re-charge state and walk towards them. He was not expecting the mood the mech was in as he walked closer. Fireblade had noticed it too, and was alert was well as on edge, he quickly turned off his disguise, exposing his own black armor that had been hidden from everyone until now. The Cybertronian dog was small for a quadruped but Ironhide was sure that part was made up somewhere else.

Alice and Fireblade turned to meet the him and she was a bit taken back by his change in attitude. With one swift movement Sideswipe reached the group and was about lunge towards her. Fireblade took his stance in front of her as Alice became bewildered and was prepared to run, but a red armored mech was quicker.

"Easy, calmarsi, Sideswipe." his smooth voice said. Alice relaxed at the sight of her guardian as his voice sent shivers down her spine. He had caught the hand with ease as the silver warrior became flustered. Alice walked towards Sideswipe and gently touched his armor, projecting waves of comfort and reassurance to the young mech. Mirage's hold loosened and let go of his arm, but he didn't let his guard down.

The demeanor of the silver Autobot instantly changed, and his form relaxed. But, Mirage saw that Alice didn't, and worry consumed her features. She sighed heavily, still pressing her palm onto the warrior's armor.

"Sideswipe, there are a lot of things I don't tell any of you, for good reason. I know you lost contact with your twin some time ago. He is alive, but he has been badly damaged, and is in status. I didn't want to tell you because, although his course is headed towards Earth, I don't know if he'll make it." She looked up at the meche with tears brimming her eyes, "I'm sorry..." Alice finished quietly, but they could still hear.

The silver Autobot met her gaze at that moment, and he could make out the liquid bordering her eyes. Memories of his twin filled his processor, and he vented. "What happened?" he asked the young girl. She let go and regained control of herself.

"He was captured on a foreign planet, during the fight to escape capture on the Decepticon ship, his spark chamber was badly damage. He managed to reach an escape pod before enter status. " she replied gravely.

"When will he get here?" was his next question.

"Less then a month." was her reply.

* * *

As they left the house Alice could see dark clouds gathering on the horizon line, towering high into the atmosphere, thunder rolled softly over the landscape. Arriving at the mall in Rockville, around 10 that morning. Annie could barely hold onto her mother's hand as they walked through the doors. Fireblade walked right next to Alice, a bit surprised that the security guards didn't stop her, as they followed Sarah. She had suggested that Alice get her hair cut, and was leading her to the salon. Her hair was down past the small of her back and if she was going to continue to train it would need to be more manageable.

Auto-pilot kicked in as Alice walked through the maze of people. Thoughts raced through her mind, she didn't even realize where they were until Fireblade nudged her hand. Looking down Alice noted that in his current form his head reached her elbow. She giggled as she thought of how large he appeared standing next to her.

The hairstylist was tall, lean, blonde haired woman whose energy came off of her in tidal waves. Alice had become uneasy taking almost a foot and a half off, the stylist donated it. Layering Alice's hair she also 'swooped' her bangs. The whole time Fireblade sat and watched curiosity showing through.

The rest of the afternoon went by in a blur. By the time 2 o'clock rolled around Alice had everything she could possibly think of. Undergarments, who knows how many sets of clothes, several pairs of shoes, a cell phone, laptop, and while Annie when to the playground inside, Alice managed to buy a few of her own things. Of course she paid for everything herself, without Sarah knowing. Her parents had left her a large inheritance that grew with interest in several banks across the nation as well as over seas- of course she didn't know about it until several years ago.

Dread flowed off of Alice waiting for Ironhide to return from his 'mission' he was on while waiting for the girls. The clouds that had been in the distance covered the sky over head, giving everything a dark gray color. Annie climbed allover Fireblade, of course he didn't mind being made of metal. Meanwhile Sarah wanted an explanation for everything, she had wanted on earlier but, Alice said she would explain later.

"When Ironhide gets here..." she didn't even get to finish her sentence as he rolled up, mud splattered over his shiny black armor. Annie squealed with glee as the door opened for her. Fireblade jumped into the bed of the truck as the three girls climbed up the monstrous truck. It was funny that no one noticed the fact that the driver's seat was empty.

"Sorry I'm late ladies, William was called back to the base for a bit, he should be back later tonight." Ironhide said.

Sarah smiled, "Thanks for taking him."

The instant the door closed and Annie was settled, Sarah turned to Alice. "Alright, let's hear it."

Alice sighed running her hands through her now silky hair. "What do you want to know?" she sighed

Sarah opened her mouth to say something, but didn't know what to ask. "Ok, first Fireblade is it?" Alice nodded. "I thought he was a robot."

"He is, I altered his form to appear like an organic being. How much do you know about the the Autobots or me for that matter?" Alice asked her, the excitement she had earlier died instantly. Sarah looked like she was going to speak again but Alice stopped her. "I know I said I would explain things but it's complicated. I don't want to drag you into this mess. Everything's so hard to explain... I'm sorry." she said looking away from her. She couldn't bare to look at Sarah.

A hand was placed on her should and she looked up to see Sarah's soft, warm, concerned blue eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to push. You can tell me when your ready."

"Thanks." Alice said in a small voice. She took a deep breath in and closed her eyes for a second, trying to control her inner-self. "You can still ask me questions, if you'd like." she finished.

Sarah brightened a bit and gave a smile, Alice gave a small one in return. "So, how did this all start?" Sarah asked. Quickly and rather briefly, Alice explain the highlights of her life up to that point. Although Annie was asleep Alice didn't think she needed to hear her life's story. She knew she would have to explain it to everyone one sooner or later, she preferred the later.

Once the in sight of the new re-modeled house, she could make out a bright yellow object standing up right. She smiled knowing it was Bumblebee, back with Colonel Ryder. She was some-what excited to finally meet the woman who brought happiness back to the young mechs spark.

In front of the house, Alice hopped out with all of her belongings and was met by a familiar 6' tall Doberman. She smiled at him and walked around Ironhide as he transformed.

"I got it." Alice insisted as she pulled her bags out of arms reach of Sarah, who frowned a bit.

Walking up stairs Alice dumped out several of the bags before sifting through them to find what she was looking for. She soon collected a sports bra, black long-sleeved turtle neck shirt, and tight but somewhat loose cargo pants.

Walking downstairs, she walked outside and was greeted by the sight of four Autobots and a Colonel Ryder. Walking up to her Alice stuck out her and to shake.

"Alice Donovan, Colonel Ryder I presume?" She shook her head 'yes' and shook her hand. "Please call me Erin when were not on base."

"Interesting situation we have here Miss Alice." Erin mused.

"Indeed." Alice hummed, thunder and lightning crashed over head as the two stared at each other. Without a word Fireblade bounded over to Alice and she grabbed 5 devices from the compartment that had opened up.

"What are those?" Erin asked sternly, not one taking her eyes off of the young teenager. Two of the objects fit onto her forearms, automatically attaching themselves to her, two of the other three fit over her calf and did the same. The last of the objects attached itself to her neck, once the last piece had fit itself to her, they opened to reveal some of her skin. However the device continued to open and the metal seemed to form into needle like tips.

"You ready Fireblade?" she questioned, he simply nodded.

Taking a deep shaky breath in she whispered one word to him. "Engage." The metal sounded as though it were winding up, with a sharp 'shing', all at once the devices attached to her plunged into her skin, including the one on her neck. She stiffened a bit at first but soon relaxed. Erin, who watched the who thing was a bit started at the whole thing even more so when they started to glow an eerie white color. Mentally, she took a step back as she watch the light that she didn't even realize was present in Alice's eyes fade to a calm, collective green

Alice broke the silence as she spoke up addressing everyone. "These, are of my own creation. Since Fireblade and I are synced more so than any other Cybertronian, I am able to transfer the power that is coursing through me to him for a short while. It works by attaching itself to my nervous system, gathering the energy, and then sending it through the bond that we share. This in turn allows for me to have human like capabilities again, however as I mention this is for a limited time."

"How long?" Erin asked.

"Give or take an hour. It depends on the amount of exertion." Alice replied. At that point the roaring of rain which had yet to fall, came racing across the landscape drenching them in water. Lightning still crackled overhead as two unknowingly began to circle each other.

* * *

**Sorry this is so late I've kinda lost my muse and interest once I got some of my thoughts put to paper. I've been busy too with my relationship and my parents and school work as well. I'm sorry it's so short as well but hopefully I'll update soon. **


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